Post-office furniture.



PATENTED DEG. l2, 1905.

M. S. FIELD.

POST OFFICE FURNITURE.

APPLIGATION FILED MAR.24, 1905.

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-APPLIouIoN FILED M8824, 1905. v

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7k A/w Warcedms ,MARCELLUS S. FIELD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

POST-OFFICE FURNITURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 1905.

Application led March 24, 1905. Serial No. 251,762.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARoELLUs S. FIELD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Post-'Office Furniture, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like numerals on the drawings representing like parts. v

This invention relates to post-oflice furniture, and especially to desks or tables used for the sorting and arranging of mail.

It is customary at present for a letter-carrier when arranging his mail ready for delivery on the route to use the fingers of one hand to support the letters as they are arranged and-the other hand to pick up individual letters and arrange them in their proper places in the routed mail.

My present invention aims to provide a novel desk having means to facilitate this operation of sorting or routing the mail. According to the invention the desk is provided withone or more sliding anels or mail-rests arranged to move toward) and from the front of the desk and one or more swinging panels or mail-rests arranged to be folded against the side of the desk or opened out partially across the front of the desk, said sliding and swinging panels or mail-rests forming between them a means to support the stack of mail as it is arranged according to the points of delivery on the route. By using this means to support the mail as it is arranged the carrier has both hands free to sort the mail and can therefore arrange his mail very much quicker than when he has the use of one hand only for this purpose.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section through a desk embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof. Fig 3 is a section on the line x x, Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing one corner of a desk embodying my invention.

My invention may be embodied in desks or tables of various shapes and constructions, and for the sake of illustration I have herein shown it as embodied in a novel desk designed by me for the purpose ofseparating the financial division of a post-office from the letter-carriers division.

The desk herein illustrated comprises atable portion 3, havin a vertical partition 11V rising from its centra portion, thereby dividing the top of the table into two sections 4 and 5, one of which is on one side of the partition and the other on the other side. The partition is formed with a plurality of compartments or pigeonholes 6, which are open to the person working at the section 4, but are closed by glass 7 to the person working at section 5. Each pigeonhole 6 has associated therewith a smaller pigeonhole 8 also open to the person or persons working on section 4, but closed to the person working on section 5. The partition also is formed with a plurality of compartments 9, which are open at both sides-that is, to the persons working on both sections of the table. The partition is also formed with a door 10, preferably of glass or other transparent material, which when open permits books and other articles to be passed through from one section to the other.

When this type of desk is in use, one or more desks, as required, will be placed side by side so that the partition 1l divides the financial division from the letter-carriers division, and the financial clerks work on section 4 of the desk-top and the letter-carriers, on section 5. .There is supposed to be one pigeonhole 6 and one pigeonhole 8 for each letter-carrier and a compartment 9 for each letter-carrier.

Whenevera registered letter is received in Vthe financial division, it is put in the proper registry-book and said book placed in the pigeonhole 6 corresponding to the carrier who Will deliver the letter.

Before each carrier starts out on his trip he Will look through rthe glass 7 into his particular compartment or pigeonhole and note whether there is a registered letter for him or not, and if so it will be passed to him through the door 10.

The compartments 9 are to furnish means for passing from one section of the table to the other the return-letter books which are used in post-offices.

In embodying my improvements in this type of desk I provide one or both sections of the table-top with one or more sliding panels or mail-rests 20 and with One or more swin ing panels or mail-rests 2 1. The slidingpane s are herein illustrated as having a comparatively broad base 22, which rests and slides back and forth on the table-top, and a face 23, preferably slightly inclined against which the mail rests as itis being faced and arranged. This sliding panel is guided in its movements in some suitable Way, and, as

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herein shown, it has screwed into its base two screw-eyes 24, which slide back and forth on a guide-rod 25, occupying a groove or recess 26 in the table-top. Preferably I will make each guide-rod capable of adjustment up and down, so that there will always be sufficient friction between the rod and guide-eyes to hold the sliding panel in any adjusted position. As herein illustrated, the inner end of each guide-rod is secured directly to the table-top, while the outer end is screwed in a vertically-adjustable block 27, set into the front edge of the table, said block being held in its adjusted position by suitable screws 28. If any guide-rod becomes sprung or bent or if wear occurs between the rod and guide-eyes 24, so that the sliding mailrest operates too freely, the block 27 may be adjusted downwardly to compensate for such springing of the guide-rod or wear.

The pivoted panels or mail-rests 2l are herein shown as being pivoted to the front edge of the side 29 of the table in such a way that they can be folded back against said side or swung outwardly into a position parallel with the front of the table. Suitable stops 30 limit the outward-swinging movement of these mail-rests.

When it is desired to have the entire tabletop clear forl any purpose, the swinging mailrests 21 may b e swung back against the sides 29 of the table and the sliding mail-rests moved up against the partition, and thus out of the way. When it is desired to sort any mail, however, these devices may be brought into use to form supports for the ends of the stack of mail as it is faced or arranged according to the route. In this embodiment of my invention I have shown two sliding mailrests and two swinging mail-rests on each section of the table-top; but my invention is not limited to any particular number on each table, as I contemplate having them only in those locations in which the post-oflice work will be facilitated by their use.

My invention is not limited to the particular way of guiding the sliding mail-rests, nor to the way in which the swinging mail-rests are hinged to the table.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In post-office furniture, a table-top, a swinging mail-rest hinged thereto and movable over said table-top and arranged to be swung outwardly substantially parallel with the front edge thereof, and a sliding mail-rest movable toward and from the front edge of the table-top.

2. Inpost-offlce furniture, a table-top having side boards, a swinging mail-rest hinged to the front edge of one side board and movable over the table-top into operative4 position substantially parallel to the front edge of the table, and a sliding mail-rest movable toward and from the front edge of the table.

3. In post-office furniture, a table-top having a groove therein, a guide-rod within said groove, a slidable mail-rest movable over the table-top and guided by said rod, and a folding mail-rest adapted when in operative position to be placed parallel with the front of the table-top, and when in inoperative position to be folded back against the side of the table-top.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MARCELLUS S. FIELD.

Vlitnesses:

LoUrs C. SMITH, BERTHA F. HEUsER 

